America’s Ryder Cup players look set to be paid for the first time, in a break from a near 100-year tradition. Team USA are in line to receive almost £4 million collectively for next year’s showdown in New York.
The organising body of the American team has drawn up proposals that would see its golfers paid directly for the first time in the match’s 97-year history. It is understood that a figure of $400,000 [£315,000] for each Team USA representative has been put forward and is likely to be ratified at board level.
There are no plans for European players to be paid to appear.
The ultimate decision will probably have to wait until a new PGA of America chief executive is appointed, yet after the issue boiled over at Marco Simone 12 months ago it must be thought that the status quo will not persist.
Certainly, the Stars and Stripes officials will not want any repeat of the unseemly episode where Patrick Cantlay was accused of not wearing a “USA” cap in protest at the lack of financial rewards – a mini-mutiny that Cantlay vehemently denied waging – and the European galleries responding to the story by waving their own hats and ridiculing the inscrutable Californian.
The situation turned ugly on the Saturday evening when, in the wake of the taunts, Rory McIlroy and Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava, entered a row that spilt over into the car park. In the aftermath of the heavy US defeat, Stefan Schauffele, the father of world No 2 Xander, who is Cantlay’s playing partner and close friend, urged the authorities “to have the players share in that profit instead of being so damned intransparent about it”. It appears the PGA of America has moved to act on those demands.
In contrast, there are no immediate plans for Europe to provide any sort of financial compensation to its golfers, with the members of Luke Donald’s team adamant that they represent their continent for “passion” alone. This particular group of multi-millionaires recognises that the DP World Tour counts on the proceeds from the biennial behemoth to survive, although the circuit does contribute a seven-figure sum to the Ryder Cup European Development Trust to support golf development in European nations.
“They can do whatever they want,” one Europe player told Telegraph Sport. “But we don’t want payments in our bank accounts, as it’ll be the thin end of the wedge and is not what the Ryder Cup is about. Let’s face it, a lot of the American players have been angling towards this for years, if not decades. If it does go ahead, then it will be interesting to see how the fans react at Bethpage, although they’ll probably announce it as just an extension of what already happens.”
Since 1999 and the match in Brookline where the likes of Tiger Woods, Mark O’Meara and David Duval voiced their objections to the association that represents more than 30,000 club pros raking in hundreds of millions without compensating those who actually play the shots, the PGA of America has donated $200,000 per player, with $100,000 going to junior golf schemes and foundations and the other $100,000 to charities of each participant’s choice.
But this time around, it seems that unless there is a U-Turn, the increased handouts will go straight to the individuals on Keegan Bradley’s home team. Of course, sound PR dictates that the players would pledge to divert the funds to good causes, but the crucial difference is that it would be solely up to them and their accountants and that all these years later, Woods would finally be getting his wish.
“I would like to see us receive whatever the amount is – 200, 300, 400, 500,000 dollars, whatever it is – and I think we should be able to keep the money and do whatever we see fit,” Woods said at the backend of the last century. “Personally, I would donate all of it to charity. But I think it’s up to the other person’s discretion what they would do with it. With all the money that’s being made, I think that we should have a say in where it goes.”
At the time, future captain Tom Lehman did not agree to the dissension, with whispers of a boycott even being suggested. “The last thing the tour needs is a label put on us as greedy, wimpy, whiny brats,” he said.
In the phoney war that is the Ryder Cup build-up, such reputational slurs would be a godsend for Donald as he looks to guide his men to a first away victory in 13 years. But the Englishman spoke for many last year when outlining what he views as the principles at stake.
“It’s one week where you play for more than yourself, not about money or points, it’s about coming together as a team and the fans feed off that — it’s all passion,” he said. “I don’t think we should ever get paid.”
The PGA of America has declined to comment.
Meanwhile, at the Jumeirah Golf Estates, prospective members of the Europe team were measured for their Bethpage uniforms. One of these was McIlroy, who holds a commanding advantage in the Race to Dubai going into the DP World Tour Championship, the last event of the season that starts on Thursday.
Thriston Lawrence is the only player in the 50-man field who can deny McIlroy a sixth order of merit a title. Yet only does the South African need to win on the Earth Course, but for McIlroy to finish outside the top 11.
Golfers should never be paid to play the Ryder Cup
In among all the hat-waving, taunting and Rory McIlroy’s royal rumble with Joe LaCava at last year’s Ryder Cup, there was a serious point raised: should the players be paid?
The argument in favour of doing so is pretty straightforward. The Ryder Cup has become a financial juggernaut and the players involved are asked to give a lot to it. They are the ‘stars’ (well, some of them anyway – Cantlay would probably get away in a police lineup of one). Ergo, they deserve a cut of the profits.
It is a valid viewpoint, but surely misguided. The truth is the Ryder Cup is bigger than any player. It is special precisely because players are not paid to be there. They play because, like the Olympics, it is the biggest honour in golf to be asked to represent your country or continent.
Money is irrelevant. The players are all rich enough, and likely to become richer still off the back of the Ryder Cup, simply because their profiles are raised. The Ryder Cup can make entire careers, just ask The Postman Ian Poulter.
In any case, Ryder Cup players are compensated in different ways. The PGA of America gives each US player $200,000, half of which they can donate to a charity of their choice, the other half of which goes to the Boys & Girls Club of America, the Drive, Chip, & Putt Championship, and the PGA Junior League. That’s on top of all the team stash, the stipends, the complimentary tickets for friends and family, the gifts, and so on. In 2018, Thomas Bjorn bought every member of his side a personalised Rolex when Europe won the competition.
Whatever your view, there is probably one thing on which we can all agree. At a time when inflation is rampant, when people are struggling to pay their household bills, the sight of multi-millionaires demanding yet more money to play in an event most fans would give their right arms to play in for free, is a grotesque look. The game is awash with money at the moment and the players, whether on LIV or on the PGA Tour with its ‘Player Impact Program’, have never had it so good.
Like the ongoing struggle between players and the PGA of America over the rebel LIV series, which has blown a hole in the cosy status quo, all this grasping for more money is an ugly look.
And here is another point: If the players don’t like it, no one is forcing them to play.
A version of Tom Cary’s comment was first published in 2023
